My Mystical Life
by AnimaAmore
Summary: Believe it or not, the Other Side, aka the Mystic Realm is very much a real place. A place where dreams and nightmares are alive and kicking. I wanted no part of it, but an encounter with a devil changed it all. Now my three brothers and I are in a race against time to go back to our old lives. Curses, magic, and mystical creatures getting in the way might make that a bit difficult
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

* * *

My name is Sakura. Last names don't matter; at least not much where I'm concerned. Particularly if I'm on the Other Side. What's that? You don't know what I'm talking about? Yeah, believe you me, I know how crazy it all sounds. And trust me, I envy that you're in a position to just wave it all away and go on with your life. I wish it was that simple for me.

Believe it or not, the Other Side is real. I'm not talking about the place you go to after Death, but that's certainly a factor of it. I'm talking about the Mystical Realm, where everything belonging to dreams, nightmares, and everything in between exists; even what might be part of some religions, myths and legends. How do I know this? Let's just say that my brothers and I only needed one fateful encounter with a devil, long ago, and that his parting "gifts" are not all they're cracked up to be.

One brother is possessed by a fox demon with a rather morbid sense of humour. Another has been cursed with the Eyes of Truth (which sound awesome but in reality are more along the lines of gorgon eyes). And my third brother is soulless. Literally.

As for me, well… I was turned into a Purple Rose. Not literally, mind you. I'm still human. I walk, talk, eat, sleep, go to class, do everything any other person does. But if you know anything about flower symbolism, you'd understand my predicament. And if you don't, suffice to say that I'm like a Siren, without actually having to sing or actually _do_ anything. Just existing is enough.

I am, in all truth, simply irresistible… to a certain kind of, um, _male_. Not man. I wish it was a man. Only one. But fate conspired with that stupid devil and went "Nope!" on that simple wish. See, those irresistibly attracted to me are – you guessed it – the citizens of the Mystic Realm.

If you thought high school was bad, just try dealing with all this crap while trying to find the devil responsible for it all so he can reverse his enchantments. Which is not guaranteed he'd do even if you do find him. And don't forget to do it before time runs out, or else it all will become permanent.

Welcome to my Mystic life. Or at least that's what I wish I could say.

* * *

 **Yet another story published while so many others remain in limbo.**

 **I must be a masochist. And a bit of a sadist.**

 **Anyway, this story is a personal challenge! I will aim to make each chapter between only one page long to a maximum of two on Word. Minimum half a page, and not a word more than can fit in two. So short chapters, but hopefully faster updates. Yay!**

 **Thoughts? Reviews always appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 1

"So this is our new school?"

"Eh, it doesn't look like such a big deal, dattebayo."

"Hn."

I glanced over at Sai, Naruto and Sasuke, who had spoken respectively and were standing beside me. I turned back to the school. Inwardly I agreed with Naruto; the place didn't really look like much. Pretty standard, but then again, I honestly wasn't expecting much to begin with. When you've been to the same number of schools as my brothers and I have gone to, they all start looking the same.

"What do you think, Sakura?" asked Naruto.

I shrugged. "It will do."

The blonde rolled his vivid blue eyes at my bland answer. His tanned skin made his eyes, a replica of his father's, stand out even more. "You could try to sound like you care a little, you know."

"Why would we?" Sasuke asked from beside him. "It's not like this is the first high school we've been to. Any excitement we might've had is long gone." Sasuke was the complete opposite of Naruto in every way. Where Naruto was blonde, blue-eyed, tanned, and a bit thick-skulled, Sasuke had raven-black hair, equally dark eyes, and light skin with a mind so sharp it bordered in prodigious. Out of my three brothers, he and I were the most similar.

"While I agree with both Sasuke and Sakura, I can appreciate where Naruto is coming from," Sai commented casually from my other side as he glanced around, taking in every detail. Sai was very similar to Sasuke in the looks department. His face was a little longer and his coloration was lighter - his skin was a couple shades short of pale instead of just light like Sasuke's, and both his hair and eyes were more on the brown side; although in softer light they were so dark they looked black like Sasuke's. "Just because this is the umpteenth high school we've attended doesn't change the fact that it is new and unknown. We shouldn't let ourselves become too desensitized."

The irony that Sai was the one to point this out wasn't lost on the rest of us.

I sighed, running a hand through my pink hair. A slight breeze picked up just then, and a few students nearby who had been eying us for awhile froze as they stared, mouth agape. I grimaced. Of course they were all guys. A few girls stopped and stared too, but mostly they looked a bit bewildered before recovering their wits and trying to shake their male counterparts back to reality. While they tried to be subtle about it, it was still obvious they kept stealing glances at us.

Or more precisely, at me.

Naruto growled beside me, annoyed and protective. He took a step closer to me, and the other two followed his lead. "Sasuke," he said, low enough so only us four could hear but loud enough for us to detect the dark displeasure slipping into his voice. I placed my hand on his arm to calm him. "Are you sure this is the place?"

Sasuke looked a bit peeved at Naruto's question, but he understood the concern originating it. "Positive," he said, and just to prove it, he turned his head towards the large building before us and lowered his sunglasses just low enough for us to see his black eyes bleed into a glowing crimson. "There are five of them here, three of them male." His eyes began to revert back to normal as he quickly pushed up his sunglasses back into place.

Sai smiled, and it was as fake as a mannequin's. Perhaps a bit sarcastic, though it was difficult to tell. "Five? Well then," he said. "This should be interesting."

I touched the purple symbol on my forehead tenderly, a symbol only we and others like us could detect. "Le's go. Class is starting soon." I walked towards the front entrance, my mind already making plans as they followed me inside.


	3. Chapter 2

When we arrived to the office to pick up our schedules and introduce ourselves, we came across a bit of a problem. Well, two.

The smallest and first of the two was more of a nuisance that was easily rectified. When we enrolled in this school, we asked the four of us to be placed together. In the same classes as often as possible, with as few variants as the school could grant us. While an odd request, the school had said they'd do their best and the result was that Naruto and Sai shared the same class while Sasuke and I were in two different ones. We were hoping to all be in the same class, although that was a stretch considering that we just transferred in about two months after class started right out of the blue.

After some cajoling and pleading, the poor office lady attending us finally relented and slipped behind some doors where other administrators were working, our schedules and forms in hand. I admit I wasn't particularly fond of the drama, but the four of us needed to stay together at all costs. And, as reluctant as I was to admit it, I was the one who needed that unity the most.

Problem number two arrived as we were waiting for our schedules to be fixed, sitting on a row of chairs. It came in the form of a young male, a year or so older than us, with long brown locks held back by a very loose ponytail and a navy forehead sweatband, and serious grey eyes. A handsome boy, who carried himself with a cold elegance and dignity, and a sharp, calculating look in his eyes – at first glance.

At second glance, the boy's eyes were not a light grey as previously thought. They were hard and beyond pale, looking more like his irises were carved out of moonstone than being formed organically by DNA. A hint of light lavender gave his eyes luster, making it seem as if they could see through nothing yet pierce your soul and lay it bare simultaneously. As if this wasn't unusual enough, his eyes were also without a pupil. His eyes consisted of just the sclera and the iris, framed by long, dark eyelashes. He was using Glamour.

If this didn't immediately tell me that this wasn't simply another normal human boy, then the fact that he froze the minute he stepped into the office and his gaze zeroed in on me did. Naruto growled low in his throat, and in an instant Sai and Sasuke tensed as they focused on the newcomer. I held my breath and forced myself to remain calm, quietly taking in as many details of the whole situation as I could.

The young man didn't move for the longest of moments. When he did, he slowly approached us; never once did his gaze on me waver even to blink. Sasuke slowly stood up from his chair beside me and took a step forward, partially blocking me from the newcomer who stopped his advance. Because he still had his sunglasses on, no one but me could tell that he had activated his curse and his eyes were returning to that glowing crimson to size up the youth before us.

When he did, the young man glanced quickly at him before returning his attention to me. He took another step forward so he was barely an arms length away from Sasuke, making Naruto snarl under his breath and Sai to stand up behind Sasuke for support with the fakest of smiles plastered on his face.

"Who are you?" the unknown boy demanded.

"It's rude to demand our identity before introducing yourself," Sasuke replied.

The youth cast Sasuke an annoyed look. "My name is Neji. Hyuga. Now answer my question."

Naruto snarled again, louder this time as Neji returned his pale stare on me. I fidgeted uncomfortably, though I tried to hide it. I was sort of used to it by now, but to be honest it was impossible to truly be comfortable with it no matter how many times it happened. "My name is Sakura," I answered, meeting his gaze dead on. "These are my brothers, Sai, Sasuke and Naruto."

"Sakura…" he echoed quietly, savouring the name on his tongue and completely dismissing my brothers.

Just then, the office lady came back with our new schedules, freshly printed out. Naruto, being the one closest to her, stood up tersely from my side and received the papers from her, shooting Neji hostile glares.

"Here you are, my dears. It took a bit of juggling, but we managed to get the four of you divided into two classes. I know it's not what you asked, but it's the best we could do, you understand. Now, Sakura dear, you're with Sai in Ms. Yuhi's class, and you two boys, Naruto and Sasuke, are in Mr. Hatake's." Just then, the woman noticed Neji's presence. " Oh! Neji! Are those the forms for your club? Thank you very much." Neji seemed to snap out of his trance, or whatever it was, long enough to hand the woman some forms. After she flipped through them, humming in approval, she smiled at Neji. "Everything looks good. Now Neji, do you think you could do me a great favour now that you're here? Would it be possible for you to show these kids to their class? They're new here, you see."

Neji shot me a glance, a small smirk forming on his face as his eyes gleamed. "Of course," he said.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

We followed Neji out of the main office trying to not outwardly show our reluctance. He held the door open for me, still with the cold elegance of a prince – one cold as ice, but a prince nonetheless. He smiled welcomingly at me as I walked past him. It was the sort of smile I imagine a charming, highly cultured villain on some action movie having. Beautiful, alluring, and completely mistrustful.

Naruto and my other brothers trailed behind me, eying our new guide with narrowed eyes. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Neji's fingers twitch on the door, as if for a brief instant he considered allowing the door to slam on their faces but he restrained himself from doing so.

I had a feeling that if I wasn't there, he might just have done it.

Once Sai, who was the last one to step out of the office, walked past Neji, the latter of the two immediately slid smoothly past the three brothers in three strides to walk beside me. I heard Naruto hiss warningly behind gritted teeth behind me, and I could feel Sasuke's gaze boring into the back of our skulls with evident disapproval. I slowed down my walk so Neji could take the lead and so I was closer to my brothers.

Neji glanced at me with some disappointment when I did that, but he did nothing and simply looked ahead as he guided us through the school. "So," he said instead. "New transfers. Quite an odd time to switch schools, wouldn't you say?"

"Our family travels a lot," Sai responded, still smiling serenely.

"Must be nice to have such a large _family_ , then. Keeps at least something constant when everything else is changing."

"Quite," muttered Sasuke.

Neji turned to look at me. "Must be hard being the only girl." His eyes flickered to my forehead. "A flower…" he muttered, glancing behind me at my brothers, "among beasts."

Naruto snarled and snatched my arm, pulling me behind him as he bared his sharp teeth at the brunette. Unlike the previous times earlier, this time the sound was more animalistic and less human. The fingers holding on to my upper arm were stiff as the nails elongated into sharp points; like claws.

"Naruto!" I warned. We'd only just arrived, we couldn't let ourselves be discovered just yet.

However, Neji didn't seem too surprised. He merely stopped walking long enough to raise an eyebrow ion our direction and curl his lip in disdain. "A kitsune," he said distastefully. "I knew there was something off about you lot. But a filthy animal demon was not what I was expecting."


	5. Chapter 4

Naruto bristled at the insult, furious, as his canines starting to grow into fangs much like his nails, and the scars in his face becoming thicker and darker like tattooed whiskers. Sai stepped up beside him and grabbed his shoulder in a strong grip, silently warning the blonde to cool it. Meanwhile, Sasuke stepped in front of us to glare down the brunette.

"My brother," he coldly said, "is no kitsune."

Neji looked disbelievingly at him. "I am no fool, gorgon." We all froze at that. How did he…? Seeing our socked looks, he smirked and started walking away, beckoning us with his finger to follow him. With no other choice, we did.

"You're wondering how I know your little secret. Unfortunately for you, I have no reason to tell you. Suffice to say that those sunglasses won't help you hide from _my_ eyes."

"You're an Otherworlder," I stated, cutting to the chase. "That much is obvious. Glamour doesn't generally work on us; but ours should work on you. Why didn't it work?" Our "brand" of Glamour was specially designed to work on Otherworlders to protect us, as we weren't one of them by birth and this fact could prove quite deleterious to our lives. Especially with our curses in place. The fact that it didn't work on Neji was very alarming.

"Hmm. Destiny is not linear, my dear. As the Blinded like to say, it 'throws a curve ball' when you least expect it."

I shared a bemused look with the others. "The Blinded" is what Otherworlders called normal humans with no knowledge of or connection to the Mystic Realm. It was a rather unflattering, though not altogether wrong, reference of their ignorance of the other sentient beings that existed around them. There were other words for these normal people used by Otherworlders, but "the Blinded" was the preferred term used by the noble class. Of course, being at the top of the pyramid meant that they were among the most powerful bloodlines around. And immune to most types of anything magical, including Glamour.

"What's a son of a noble line doing here?" Sai asked, his fake smile vanishing in a second.

"What's a kitsune doing with a gorgon? And for that matter," Neji answered, stopping beside a classroom door and facing us as his moonstone eyes shone like a cat's for a split second. "What are they doing with a Purple Rose and a damned one? Why do they claim to be family when there is no shared blood between any them? So many questions." He politely knocked on the door, and hearing a female voice call out an invitation to come in, he opened it and gestured for us to go in. We didn't, and he sighed. "Unfortunately, now is not the time to discuss them. Fortunately, we have plenty of time later. Right now, though, I must introduce you to your new teacher. Now, if you please."


	6. Chapter 5

Shocked and unsure, we did as he said and walked into the classroom. Sasuke frowned at Neji while Naruto, who'd calmed down enough to return to normal, opted to scowl ferociously at him. Sai's face simply became a white canvas void of any emotion. And I? Well, I just bit my lip and hoped for the best as Neji walked in behind us and closed the door.

Things were not going as I'd planned.

Inside, the lively classroom seemed welcoming. We were on the first floor, but we still had a generous view of the school field through the many large windows. The desks were ordered in pairs in three rows, and the walls were decorated with colorful banners filled with inspirational quotes such as "You'll miss 100% of all the shots you don't take" and "No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted."

It reminded me slightly of my middle school more than a high school, but hey, a lot of high schools seemed quite comfortable following the theme; trying to keep a warm, welcoming ambient.

The students chatting at their desks quieted down when they saw the small parade walk in, turning to face us at the front. A pretty young woman, surely no more than thirty at the most, with pale skin and gorgeous dark locks, looked up from her clipboard with a sweet smile on her face. She stood up from behind the large teacher's desk at the front of the class and gestured for us to come closer.

"Welcome! I am Ms. Yuhi, the homeroom teacher for this class, and the science teacher for your year. Are you all new students?"

"They are," Neji answered smoothly for us. I bit my tongue to keep from saying something I'd surely regret. He was really starting to get on my nerves. Neji kept talking, introducing us one by one.

"This pretty girl here is Sakura. She's to be in your class along with Sai – that's this guy over here. The blonde guy who looks like he just swallowed a lemon is called Naruto, and the one with the dark sunglasses is Sasuke. They're both in Mr. Hatake's class."

"I do _not_ look like I swallowed a lemon," Naruto grumbled under his breath. "I just think you're a prick."

"Shut it," Sasuke grumbled back.

Ms. Yuhi nodded acceptingly. "Welcome, all of you. Sasuke and Naruto, even if you're not in my class, please know that if you need anything I'm happy to help." She looked to Neji next. "Would you mind taking the boys to their class after they all introduce themselves?" The way she said the last two words with the slightest extra intonation made it obvious that she wasn't very impressed either at how he'd jumped the gun on the introductions. Neji inclined his head in acquiesce and took a step back towards the door.

Ms. Yuhi smiled encouragingly at the four of us before turning to her class and raising her hand in a silent signal for silence and attention. My small band of siblings and I were surprised that it was given to her almost immediately. Either this teacher was a favorite to everyone there, or she ruled with an iron fist behind her pretty smile.

"Good morning, class. Today there is an important announcement. There are four new students coming to join you starting from today on; so please pay attention while they introduce themselves, and make them feel welcome."

Whispers immediately started sprouting around the classroom. Four students? At the same time? Which ones? It seems like they know each other; do they know each other? Where do they come from? I shook my head slightly. I've always known humans are curious creatures, but they sure are just plain nosy too.


	7. Chapter 6

The teacher gestured at us that it was our turn. We shared unsure looks. In most other high schools, it was unnecessary to introduce themselves as if we were back in elementary school. Most teachers were satisfied to meet the students one-on-one and to leave them to sort out their own peers. Apparently not Ms. Yuhi.

Naruto gulped and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out as he walked to the middle of the front of the classroom, just a step in front of our brothers and I. Standing up tall and smiling brightly, he enthusiastically greeted the class. "Hey! So, I'm Naruto, and I just transferred in with these three guys behind me. But you knew that already," he tilted his head towards the teacher and a few chuckles answered him along with smiles. "Mmm, not sure what else to say. I like sports, and my favorite food is ramen! Okay, Sasuke, you're next."

Naruto stepped back to where the rest of us were and shoved Sasuke to the front, earning him an unimpressed look from the brunette. Sasuke coolly looked over the classroom, letting the silence stretch out for a second longer than needed and earning a few appreciative whispers from some of the girls before pushing up his sunglasses further up his nose and introducing himself. "My name is Sasuke. Nice to meet you." Without another word, he turned around and marched back to the others.

Sai plastered on a fake smile and made his way to the front before I could. I inwardly scowled; I hated being the last to introduce myself.

"Now, now," Neji chided softly from behind me, near my ear. I fought down a shiver just in time. "You'll get your turn. Patience, little blossom."

I grit my teeth and forced myself to not shoot him a dirty look. He did that on purpose.

"Hello," Sai began. "My name is Sai, and it's a pleasure to meet you all. I hope we can become good friends." He bowed slightly to the class before stepping back, plastic smile still in place, and waiting for me to take his center stage. His introduction was perfect, but there was _something_ off about it. I could see the confusion forming on the back of the minds of the students sitting on the front row; a sliver of intuition hidden behind a wall of logic that refused to be forgotten but could only settle for being ignored. If only they knew that that something was a lack of soul.

I inhaled deeply and let it out slowly through my nose. Now was the tricky part for me. Because of my curse, which affected non-Otherworlders as well but to a lesser degree, I had to be very precise in wording my introduction. Too much and the stronger the enchanting effect of its power. Too little and I would come off as "mysterious" or whatever which would encourage others to seek me out, meaning I would end up talking more nonetheless, but to only a handful of students. Which would be worse, really, because then the potential for friendships and pseudo-romantic notions grew exponentially. How did I know this? One word: experience.

"Hi there. My name is Sakura. Nothing much to say that these guys haven't already said, but I'll reiterate. It's a pleasure to meet you, and I hope we can get along." I flashed the class a small smile before stepping back. Ms. Yuhi nodded approvingly.


	8. Chapter 7

"Does anyone want to ask any questions?" she asked the class. None of the guys nor I were surprised to see a few hands shoot up. Ms. Yuhi pointed to a blonde girl at the back.

"How do you all know each other?" A series of buzzes followed her questions, agreeing that it was a good question that had been on everybody's minds. As had been the case in all the other schools, so we were prepared.

"Believe it or not, we're siblings," Naruto answered easily, raising his arms to rest them behind his head. A group of girls in one corner whispered excitedly at that, and Naruto, upon noticing, winked in their direction and caused a pretty girl with short dark hair and grey eyes to blush furiously and look down. She looked awfully familiar…

"Where did you guys used to attend?"

"We've moved around a lot, so it depends on which time frame you're referring to," Sai said, smoothly answering the question without really doing so.

"Why don't any of you look alike?" Ah, there was the rude one. There usually was one or two in every school. The guy who asked the question got smacked on the back of the head by another guy who hissed something at him, probably berating him for his insolence.

"Private," Sasuke answered curtly, never having particularly had much tolerance for his type. This encouraged a new wave of whispers, louder than the last ones, as a new mystery was presented to them: four new students with a secret past. Oooh.

Ms. Yuhi, noticing that there were no more questions, nodded in satisfaction to herself before turning back to us. "It's nice to formally meet you all. I hope this new school will prove to be fruitful to each of you. Now, Neji, could you please show the two boys to Mr. Hatake's class? Sakura, Sai, there are a few open seats. Feel free to choose whichever you like."

Sai and I observed the classroom. There were only three seats available, and all were distributed away from the each other. Sai turned to Ms. Yuhi. "Thank you, but we were wondering if it would be possible to sit together," he said. He lowered his voice and leaned closer to her while he cupped the side of his mouth with his hand, as if he was sharing a very sensitive secret. "Sakura has anxiety in new places, so we think it'd be best. You know, while we settle in."

Ms. Yuhi's scarlet eyes widened at this bit of information and nodded, turning back to the classroom and deciding on whom to ask to move. While that was being arranged, Neji slipped beside me, neutrally observing the on-goings.

"You don't seem to be one to suffer from anxiety," he calmly stated, even while my brothers were all giving him the stink eye.

"Anxiety is a serious issue that has nothing to do with appearances," I calmly answered back, crossing my arms across my chest. "Genetics, possibly. But that's another story."

We quietly observed as a male student who was sitting beside an empty desk gladly picked up his belongings and moved to another empty desk, near what I safely assume were some of his friends.

"Another story indeed," Neji agreed. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, and his pale, pupil-less iris sent goose bumps down my arms. "I look forward to hearing how a rarity such as yourself, Lady _Infatuadora_ , came to such a strange predicament."

"Don't flatter yourself, Hyuga," I said, low enough so only he could hear me. "I don't think you're going to get a lot out of us."

"I don't need to. But you can be sure that I'll be observing you. After all, there is no such thing as a coincidence when four _Convérsi fuéritis_ suddenly switch schools where there are known _Prognati_. I've told you before, Lady Sakura. Nothing escapes my eyes."

Now he was just showing off, using his flawless Latin and its Otherworld hybrid like it was nothing. I'm not entirely sure what it was he'd called me, but I can guess. It really did not endear him to me. The other two words, "converted" and "descendants," respectively, I got. More Mystic Realm nobility jargon.

"But don't worry," he continued as he walked back to the door, waiting for Sasuke and Naruto to follow him after we said our goodbyes. "I won't say a word to the others. I'm curious to see what your destiny holds."

Naruto bared his fangs at him, only for a split second as he advanced. "Hands and mind to yourself, pretty boy."

"Hn. Nobility or not, you come near her and you'll realize just how interesting four Converted really are," Sasuke added in, briefly flashing his red eyes over his sunglasses before he reverted them back to black. Neji looked at them both sharply, with an unimpressed gaze before leading them away.


End file.
